arftist

Nice job Grant. What is the object you were making?

Do you have a lathe?

Nice looking anvil. Is the notch on the right side, just before the cutting table stock? What is that Hook that looks like it is bolted to the bottom of the horn? I would get a larger round of hardwood for a base if possible. There are lots of other ways, but I like wood.

Thats cool Grant. I asume the blinding white heat is from an induction heater?

Hello, shotgunner and welcome. Sounds like a good start. My son has a book called "The Fifty Dollar Knife Shop", with lots of great designs for low cost knife making tools.

That site didn't come up for me, so I can't comment on it's content. Lincoln, Miller, and Hobart are all good brands, Ford, Dodge, Chevy, a matter of taste more than anything. I personaly prefer Lincoln, but have owned good Millers and other brands as well. Hobart is now a division of Miller. Any process for MIG welding aluminum is going to involve inert gas, specificaly Argon. MIG welding aluminum in general is a difficult operation primarily because the filler wire (aluminum) is soft and therefore difficult to feed. For this reason, and reasons of apearence and ease of welding, TIG is prefered, especialy in thin sections such as 16 gauge. Asuming that you would prefer MIG, most welders would choose the Spool on gun method of MIG welding. Additionaly, a thin filler wire such as .030" or .035" is recomended. You will need to practice on scap pieces extensively, to get the proper heat and wire speed settings. Personaly, I would consider the TIG process instead, perhaps with a machine such as a Thermal Dynamics inverter.

Better get some real specific information on that one. I would think a logan would use oil, and it sounds like someone put in those zerks. I could be wrong, but if it is supposed to have oil, and you give it grease, it will not be properly lubed. Maybe someone knows about a Logan users group or something.

Some sway. Like an 1/8''. I am not saying not to buy it. Anvils are rare and expensive here too. You know what the market is there, far better than I do.

Hi, Dave, that sounds like a plan. Good luck, I hope you get the job.

Hello, archer and welcome. I am not a bladesmith, but my son makes knives. He uses old lawnmower blades, and if you are worried about heat treating, don't get them hot enough to ruin the hardening ( if the metal starts to show colors, it is getting hot). There is a whole section here on knives and blades. Suggest you post some questions there. Good luck.

I live on a salt pond, near the ocean. Everything rusts here. Wrought Iron really doesn't rust the same way that mild steel does.

That sounds like a perfect plan. I have had a post vice mounted outside for fifteen years. I painted it with a rust conversion primer, and I grease the scew box and oil the hinge now and then. Works fine, and will stay out there till I have a much larger shop, which might be an awful long time from now.

It's pretty swayed. What are you planning to use it for? Seems like it should be cheaper considering how much use it has seen.

For the record, I was told to cut a large white oak with a fork in the trunk, bury it fork down, with the fork six feet underground. Never done it, but imagine it would be pretty stable.

This is a good and original idea. If it is possible to point something out, without being a spoilsport though, I would like to say that I have bent this type of wrench when pulling sideways instead of in the direction they are designed to resist. Once bent, they are useless, as they can no longer be adjusted. If one were to weld the prongs on the side of the jaws instead of the back of the jaws, the bending danger is avoided.

Yeah, sorry I was tired. Casting is a huge subject and there is not a simple answer to your question, considering the amount of detail you provided. Actualy, the simple answer is that fabricating is most likely the better way to go. Casting is expensive, difficult, dangerous and has a huge learning curve. For true mass production casting has a place. There are many books avaiable, and there is a Yahoo group, hobbycasters.

Use it as it is. You may find you want to change it, or it is already hard enough. After you have used it for quite a while, and are happy with the shape, hardface it then, if you need to.

If you think brazing is difficult, wait till you try casting.

Thanks Frosty

Frosty, I have a question for you if you don't mind. I imagine you use a hydraulic spitter for the 8 cords or more you burn up there, but you still might be able to help. I bought a Fiskars splitting axe, and the only one they had was 2.1#. Instead of waiting and getting the 4.2# that I really wanted, I had to have something NOW. Glad I am a tool junkie and not some other kind of junkie. Anyhow, the 2.1 is an awesome little axe, but a little too little. So I am thinking I will take a regular splitting mall and grind it to a hollow edge and much less weight, but likely still about 5# or so. Now my question for you is this, The fiskars has an almost straight blade, very slightly curved. My splitting mauls and axes all have a lot of curve to the edge. What do you think? Thanks.

Man some of the shapers and planers I saw get scrapped! "Those things are obsolete now son." I remember one that had to be twenty feet long at a Morse twist drill factory auction. I couldn't stand it so I bought it for $25. Then remembered I had no where to put it and no way to get it there.

Eric Sloane said the same thing.

My table is 48''. An insert face mill would be nice, but a carbide tool in a flycutter should work. Don't see the need for milling top and bottom, he is only going to the top. As far as holding down, don't see any reason not to weld something to each end. Easy enough to grind off after. A single point carbide tool is cheap, take another one out of the draw. If it can't go through, then grind it. For that matter, he can take it down with a solid carbide end mill, got plenty of them and it's his time to waste.

Yep. Can't see any other way. Doesn't mean there isn't though. I am completly amazed at how often I am wrong about something on this forum. Of course there is more than one way to skin a cat. It is just that certain ways are better/easier.

Did a huge elipical stair job last winter. Two flights, five balconys. Six guys for three months to build, two guys for three weeks to install. Some where along the install, it was mentioned that at the sale of the house, it would most likely get scrapped. Twas a sickening feeling indeed.